Better Place bought out of bankruptcy for $12M by group led by solar entrepreneur

A little over two months after electric car startup Better Place filed for bankruptcy, the company — which raised around $850 million over its lifetime — has now been bought out of bankruptcy for around $12 million. Local business news media in Israel, Globes and Haaretz, report that a group called Sunrise, which is led by solar entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz, and will include owners of Better Place cars in Israeli, has won the bid for the bankrupt company.

Reportedly there were 70 companies that had expressed interest in buying up Better Place’s assets, and there was another group that had made to the final round of the bidding process with Sunrise, which was a group led by business man Tsahi Merkur, the owner of Success Parking. Sunrise is also led by Canadian businessman Henry Shiner.

Abramowitz is the co-founder and CEO of Energiya Global Capital and the President and co-founder of Israeli solar company Arava Power. Arava Power has a goal to supply 10 percent of Israel’s electricity with solar.

The $12 million bid that includes both Better Place’s charging stations and intellectual property is a sober deal for the company. The Globes piece estimated that Better Place would have needed another four years and $500 million to reach break even before it filed for bankruptcy.